I love cooking using ground turkey breast, but I admit that it is tough to find a recipe that can turn them into a flavorful dish. I had been using this recipe for Mini Turkey Meatballs; they are awesome as a make ahead and keep in the freezer for busy nights. Recently I found some great looking pork sausages at my grocery and was looking for a recipe that combines both ground turkey and sausages, and stumbled upon this one. Perfect! I love that it also uses Asiago cheese and prosciutto. I thought, how can anything not be delicious with all of those flavors combined together?
And… I was right! These meatballs were so flavorful, moist, and just all around delicious. I was very happy with the flavors punch from the Asiago cheese and prosciutto. The red pepper flakes added a little spice kick as well that I absolutely loved. The fact that the house smells amazing when these were baked is an added bonus. These are definitely my now go-to turkey meatballs recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups (1-inch diced) bread cubes from a round rustic bread, crusts removed
2/3 cup whole milk
2 lbs ground turkey (88% – 92% lean)
1/2 lb sweet Italian pork sausage, casing removed
4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped
1 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp good olive oil plus, extra for brushing meatballs
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
3 (24-oz) jars good marinara sauce, such as Rao’s
2 lbs dried spaghetti, such as De Cecco
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until the bread is in medium crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and add the milk. Set aside for 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey, sausage, prosciutto, bread mixture, Asiago, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Lightly combine the ingredients with your hands. Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the eggs, and stir lightly with a fork to combine.
With your hands, lightly roll the mixture into 2-inch-round meatballs and place them on the prepared sheet pans. Brush the meatballs with olive oil. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the tops are browned and the centers are completely cooked.
Pour the marinara into a large, low pot, add the meatballs, and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the directions on the package. Drain and place the spaghetti in individual bowls, and top with 3 meatballs and lots of sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side.
Yield: 6-8 servings
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa’s How Easy is that?
One of my favorite weekend meals to make in the cooler months is a roast chicken. Not only that I love the delicious aroma of chicken roasting in the oven, all I need is throwing in some root vegetables and potatoes on the side, and I have a complete meal which will last me at least a couple of days. On weekends that I don’t have as much time, I turn to recipe like this. While the name may sound scary (forty cloves of garlic?), trust me that these garlic cloves really turn sweet once cooked and roasted with the sauce. Peeling all of the garlic cloves take a little time, so when I know that I am going to make these, I would peel all of the garlic a couple of days ahead of time, and store them in the refrigerator. When I am ready to cook them, I have the garlic ready to go. I really LOVE this sauce, so I make at least double and distribute it generously on the chicken pieces. I also love the sauce as a mix in to my mashed potatoes. I have also enjoyed this recipe best only using dark pieces from organic chicken (they tend to run a little smaller); the meat is a lot more flavorful and succulent that way. Now if I could only cook this in a crock-pot, I’d be in heaven!
Ingredients
3 whole heads garlic, about 40 cloves
2 (3 1/2-pound) chickens, cut into eighths
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
3 tablespoons Cognac, divided
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions
Separate the cloves of garlic and drop them into a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain the garlic and peel. Set aside.
Dry the chicken with paper towels. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In batches, saute the chicken in the fat, skin side down first, until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Turn with tongs or a spatula; you don’t want to pierce the skin with a fork. If the fat is burning, turn the heat down to medium. When a batch is done, transfer it to a plate and continue to saute all the chicken in batches. Remove the last chicken to the plate and add all of the garlic to the pot. Lower the heat and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, turning often, until evenly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the Cognac and the wine, return to a boil, and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pot with the juices and sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for about 30 minutes, until all the chicken is done.
Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sauce and the flour and then whisk it back into the sauce in the pot. Raise the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of Cognac and the cream, and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste; it should be very flavorful because chicken tends to be bland. Pour the sauce and the garlic over the chicken and serve hot.
Adapted from Barefoot in Paris
I had found some ground chicken at my local grocery store recently, and out of excitement, I grabbed a couple packages. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them yet when I picked them out, but they’re almost a rare commodity in my area. I wanted to make burgers since I had leftover burger buns, and no ground beef or turkey. Then I saw this really simple recipe of adding sun dried tomatoes into the burger patties that I thought was so clever. I have added chopped sun dried tomatoes into pasta and sometimes frittata and they add so much flavor to those dishes. Sooo… why not burgers? Brilliant. I served these burgers with my all-time fave sweet potato fries. Delicious.
Slightly adapted from Weelicious
Ingredients
1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
1 lb ground chicken
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Salt
3-4 slices cheese of your choice
3-4 burger Buns
Directions
Preheat your grill.
Place sun dried tomatoes in a food processor, process for 30 seconds until finely chopped.
Add ground chicken, parmesan cheese, and salt. Process for a few seconds until all ingredients are incorporated.
Divide your chicken mixture into thirds or forths, depending on how many patties you want to make from one pound of ground chicken.
On the grill cook patties for 5 minutes on each side or until the interior temperature reaches a minimum of 160 degree.
Add cheese to the patty in the last minute of cooking to melt.
Place patties in burger buns and serve.
Yield: 3-4 burgers
I have been enjoying the slightly cooler evenings that we’ve had in the past couple of weeks. Not cool enough to demand a thick coat or sweater, but just enough that I crave pasta and a warm crusty baguette from the oven. I was drawn to this recipe by its simplicity; there are few items required, and it reminds me of the cooking class that I took in Bologna Italy back in 2009. Our cooking instructor didn’t use anything fancy. As a matter of fact, I think her recipe was very similar to this one below. She just emphasized the importance of simmering the meat in tomato sauce for an “extended period of time”. She recommended all day, but let’s face it, I just don’t have it these days. So any cooking time for more than an hour should work. I have added this recipe into our weekly menu rotation since it can easily be doubled, freezes well, and it is a fave at my household. Perfect!
Adapted from My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow
Ingredients
5-6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
3/4 lb Italian turkey sausage, 4 inch long links
1 lb ground turkey (dark meat ideal)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2-28oz can whole peeled tomatoes with their juice
1/3 cup tomato paste
3/4 lb (3/4 box) rigatoni
grated parmesan cheese for serving
Directions
Heat 2-3 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning them now and then, until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausages to a plate and add the ground turkey to the pan along with a healthy pinch of salt and few fresh grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring here and there for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove to a separate plate.
Add another 2 or 3 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook these until softened and just beginning to brown, another solid 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice along with about 1/2 cup of water. Add the ground turkey, stir the sauce well, and nestle the sausages in.
Bring the sauce to a boil, season to taste with salt and pepper and turn the heat to low. Cover almost completely with a lid (let the steam escape from one side) and gently simmer for 4 hours adding splashes of water every hour or so if the sauce is at all drying out. Uncover the sauce and stir in the tomato paste, barely cover, and simmer for 1 more hour.
When it’s about ready for serving, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt generously. Drop the pasta in and cook according to package directions.
Serve the sauce over the cooked pasta with a nice grating of parmesan on top. Perfect.
